the right, the common law right to have and use firearms came with a civic duty to use them when called upon. >> host: who was in charge of the militias? >> guest: well, local commanders, towns had them, in new england certainly, and later on, they became more broadly based, but as tensions and hostilities mounted between the british authorities and the colonists, the approach to revolutionary war, it was seen by many of the leaders at the time as an advantage that we americans knew how to use firearms. >> host: the -- at this time was there organized law enforcement in the communities, or was in effect, this group of volunteers or militia, was that the law enforcement? >> guest: depends on the size of the town, but there were not armed policemen running around in places like boston and philadelphia, but, sure, there were -- it was mostly locally based as i understand it. i'm not the world's greatest expert on pre-revolutionary history, but it was -- there certainly was a sense of duty to serve in militia when called upon. >> host: i know in military history, shots rang around the world